Search results

ACTIVISTS AND ACADEMICS HAVE MUCH TO TEACH EACH OTHER ABOUT THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF DEMOCRATIC COMMUNICATION. WHILE CRITICAL SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS NORMATIVE PHILOSOPHICAL DEFINITIONS OF THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN A DEMOCRACY AND SYSTEMATIC CRITIQUES OF EXISTING MEDIA INSTITUTIONS AND PRACTICES, ACTIVISM ENGAGES IN DIRECT AND STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS WITHIN THE MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION.

Using 1951-85 data from 3 large Texas cities to asess the impact of the majority runoff requirement on nonpartisan municipal election outcomes, finds that over 70% of those who finish first in the general election go on to win their runoff. There is no evidence of systematic bias against minority and female front-runners forced into runoffs. The primary losers under the majority runoff requirement are incumbents, especially those elected from single-member districts. (Abstract amended)

Public access TV provides a public forum for democratic speech. Its roots lay in the participatory democracy movements of the 1960s & 1970s, & it has typically taken an exclusively local focus with limited success in democratic social change. During the past decade, however, media activists have developed the infrastructure necessary for national production & distribution. The national progressive programming of Deep Dish TV Network, the Gulf Crisis TV Project, & Free Speech TV is discussed. The strength of public access TV lies in its relative freedom from the political, economic, & editorial constraints that typically limit programming on mainstream TV. In exercising its relative freedom, public access TV provides the public with a greater spectrum of information & enhances the democratic process. D. Generoli